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Drakkar Klose (12-2-1, 6-2 UFC) vs. Rafa Garcia (13-2, 2-2 UFC)Advertisement
It was nice to see Klose pick up where he left off in April, given that he spent most of the previous year wondering if he would ever fight again. Klose didn't come to the UFC with much hype, but a 2017 win over the much more highly touted Marc Diakiese established him as a spoiler in the lightweight division. Sometimes, Klose isn't the most fun fighter - while he can hit hard, it's usually in service of leading into a grinding clinch game where he's at his most comfortable - but his March 2020 fight against Beneil Dariush was an unexpected banger, ending with a second-round knockout from Dariush on the last card with fans prior to the pandemic. Klose was set to return about a year later against Jeremy Stephens, but Stephens shoving Klose during the post weigh-in staredowns led to Klose suffering an unexpected spinal injury, leaving Klose's career in limbo for another year more; but upon that April return, Klose looked excellent in a dominant win over Brandon Jenkins that was the first finish victory of Klose's UFC career. This was initially a big chance for Klose against a ranked opponent in Diego Ferreira, but with Ferreira out, Klose takes on Garcia in what should be a fun fight. Garcia's been consistently entertaining, though his UFC record is still a bit hard to parse; his debut was an impressively game performance in a tough matchup against Nasrat Haqparast, but Garcia's subsequent loss to Chris Gruetzemacher seemed to signal that he wasn't long for the UFC. Instead, Garcia strung together two one-sided wins over Natan Levy and Jesse Ronson - the latter via second-round submission - without changing much of anything; the Mexican is still at his best as a brawler who's able to mix in the occasional takedown. Garcia could eke this out on sheer pace, but this seems like Klose's fight to lose as the much more potent force; he packs much more knockout power, and any attempts by Garcia to wrestle should just wind up with Klose turning things around and stalling the fight out. The pick is Klose via decision.
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